I had never heard of this movie when I picked it up off the shelf at my local library. But since the spirit of the library is to open new doors to people, it was doing it's job. Finding quality entertainment for it's patrons that they might otherwise not be exposed to. I suspect this film did not have a big roll-out budget, and that I might not be alone in never having heard of it.
I liked this movie very much, but the thing that I loved about it was that while all of the characters in it are gay men, they are mostly just men, regular guys struggling with relationships. I have worked with people who remind me of each and every character in this movie. They seem very normal, and while I know it shouldn't be that that stands out, it does. It wasn't a film that had a flashing neon sign that said "gay film". We need a lot more of this. The bullying of adolescents because they are perceived as gay is being examined closely. The events that bring it to our attention are dramatic, but the problem of bullying those who are different and therefore more vulnerable, is longstanding. Films depicting characters who are recognizable, but oh, also gay--kind of as a side bar--they are also tall, 20, smart--helps. Sexual orientation is just another fact about them. Not more or less important than any other fact, and they seem just like the guy next door, or the guy who sits in front of you on the bus, or the guy who changes your oil. Often films reinforce stereotypes--models are obsessed with their looks, waiters are actors who need rent money, the psychology major needs therapy, and so on--and this film does that exactly--only that all of those stereotypes are true for men who are gay, in this case. Some reviewers found it 'boring', but in it's normalcy, I found a path to tolerance.
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